Every now and then I encounter people who can’t suspend disbelief. They ask how I can write about ‘such terrible things’Feeling unappreciated is your lot as a writer. Few readers; no readers. Scathing reviews; no reviews. Publishers saying, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” or not taking a punt on your second book because the first sold poorly. The fat American and English imports on display at the front of many bookshops, a tiny Australian section in the back corner. Beverley Farmer finding her short-story collection Milk shelved with books on nursing mothers; me finding my novel The Stencil Man shelved in Art and Craft.Most of these indignities occur while you’re still at your desk. They multiply once you appear in public. Elizabeth Jolley, signing books at a department store in Perth, was scrutinised by a beady-eyed woman who eventually approached and asked, “How much is the table?” A bookseller stuck the first page of a US thriller under my nose and said, “Once you can learn to write as good as this …” Related: Harold Bloom’s defence of western greats blinded him to other cultures | Kenan Malik If I say, 'Worse things happen in real life than I invent, just read a newspaper,' I learn they don’t read newspapers Related: Peter Handke's Nobel prize that dishonours the victims of genocide | Ed Vuilliamy Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-11-03 17:00:27 UTC ]
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The regional winners of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize have been announced, with 20-year-old Reyah Martin taking the title for Europe and Canada. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-03 23:09:53 UTC ]
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Authors have always tried to turn their sorrow and confusion into enduring monuments of beauty among the ruins. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-06-03 13:00:00 UTC ]
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The Desmond Elliott Prize is awarded annually to a writer whose first novel is written in English and published in the UK. Since 2007, it has supported and heralded new writers; the honor comes with a £10,000 prize. It’s heartening to see, especially right now, that this year the Desmond Elliott... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-02 17:58:53 UTC ]
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On May 21st at 7:30 pm. EST Community Bookstore is hosting a virtual conversation about Curzio Malaparte’s Diary of a Foreigner in Paris between writer Gary Indiana and NYRB Classics editor Edwin Frank. You can register for free and learn more here. * Curzio Malaparte is a phrasemaker before... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-20 08:48:48 UTC ]
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Sittenfeld’s alternate history is the story not of “What Happened” but of “What Could Have Happened.” Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-18 15:39:14 UTC ]
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One juror for the 2020 Young Writer of the Year award says she hopes 'we won’t see a rash of virus or pandemic stories.' The post Amid ‘the ‘Low-Level Hum of Panic,’ the UK’s Young Writer Award Names Its Jury appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-05-18 12:37:26 UTC ]
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Sebastian Faulks, Kit de Waal and Tessa Hadley are among the judges for this year's Sunday Times and University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-18 10:25:47 UTC ]
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Eoin Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl series, will be the keynote speaker at the virtual Writers' Weekend, a four-day conference that will now be live streamed from 9th-12th July. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-15 23:55:15 UTC ]
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Clean Prose, the London-based writers' co-working space, has announced it is to close as a result of "social distancing and the economic downturn" caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-11 07:15:50 UTC ]
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The Literary Consultancy (TLC) has launched a digital platform to support writers and "safeguard their creativity". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-11 01:42:35 UTC ]
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If you are currently living out your quarantine with an argumentative reader of fantasy and science fiction (possibly this person is your child, who knows), or if you aren’t but would like to be, you may get a kick out of this new video series from Penguin Random House, in which noted authors of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-07 14:08:45 UTC ]
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Ava Eldred’s debut YA thriller The Boyband Murder Mystery has been optioned by MGM's Orion TV and digital entertainment start-up Brat in a "heated" four-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-07 08:52:39 UTC ]
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It’s just over a month since lockdown began. I don’t need to tell you about the uncertainties or worries, but at Riot the crisis has strengthened our raison d'etre: we exist to promote culture, because we know how culture can offer perspective during turbulent times. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-01 08:34:43 UTC ]
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This year's Bloody Scotland International Crime Festival has been cancelled, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-29 02:03:17 UTC ]
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Ramadan Mubarak to all who celebrate! In honor of this special holiday, here are some excellent books written by Muslim women authors! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-04-28 10:31:23 UTC ]
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A J Waines, Fiona Veitch Smith and Holly Watt will feature in this year's National Crime Reading Month, which is now online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-26 19:51:35 UTC ]
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Lawrence Wright’s new novel about a pandemic was meant to be speculative. The author says he’s both proud and embarrassed about what turned out to be foresight. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-24 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Luke Jennings, author of the Villanelle series (John Murray), and Adam Kucharski, author of The Rules of Contagion (Wellcome Collection), are among the names joining The Big Book Weekend virtual festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-19 23:52:40 UTC ]
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Once upon a time Ken Kesey wrote an endearing tale about a wily squirrel and a hungry bear. The unlikely picture book was one of two written by Kesey nearly three decades after his well-known 1962 novel set in a psychiatric hospital, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Who knew? Kesey—as well as... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-17 08:48:38 UTC ]
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A survey by the Authors Guild of its members found a majority of authors had already lost significant income due to the ongoing pandemic, led by lost fees from appearances and writing opportunities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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